Amaranth

BOOK INFORMATION (Goodreads)

Hoodoo-influenced Southern Louisiana seems like the perfect place for Camille to escape her abusive past and dysfunctional family. She doesn’t expect to fall in love with the handsome Gavin Devereaux and plummet into the world of Amaranth, a place of exile for reformed vampires.

Wrestling to escape a deadly ex-boyfriend while giving Gavin a chance, Camille is confronted with decisions that threaten not only her life, but the lives of her inhuman friends she has come to love. Entangled in her friends’ quest for freedom, she dives into their realm and faces the threats of Amaranth’s ruler—the mother of all vampires—and her own inner demons.

Now Camille must decide whether she will derail her life and make the ultimate sacrifice for the monsters that interrupted her bumpy path back to sanity—what she still wants so desperately—or escape with Gavin before it’s too late for both of them.

Genres: Paranormal, vampires, fantasy, young adult, romance

Formats: paperback, kindle, ebook

Number of pages: 245 pages

Publisher:  Rabbit Hole Press

Expected Publishing Date: July 27, 2011

Language: English

ASIN: B005EV0OSI

My Rating:

First off, I am so sorry I am late with this blog post.  I actually finished this book almost a week ago, I've just been so busy I haven't had a few seconds to post..Dang it!  Ok....on to the review!

So I picked up Amaranth as it was .99c with the 5 fated paranormal books.  I just thought, hey why not! Let me tell you, with this first story, I was NOT disappointed.  So we meet Camille in Paris and you immediately sympathize with her.  She's trying to start a new after an abusive relationship and runs in to Gavin.  There was an immediate connection there, but nothing every really came from it.

2 years later, fate would step in and once again, she ran in to Gavin once more at the book shop she works in.  They were immediately drawn together once more, though Camille had once again found herself in an abusive relationship that she was trying to get rid of at at the time, ashamed she once again let herself fall into the same pattern she ran from 2 years ago.  With Gavin's help, she was finally able to give up the abusive man, that is until she was attacked.

Gavin was there to save her, and this is where you find out just how much Gavin and his friends have been hiding.  Throwing Camille through a whirl wind of emotions, throwing herself into an alternate world full of vampires, including the queen bee Samira and finding out she is not a force to be reckoned with.

I wouldn't say this is a hang on to the edge of your seat kind of book, but it definitely keeps you intrigued.  To be quite honest, I didn't see Gavin's secret coming.  It could be because I didn't read the book blurb and really didn't know what to expect, but I was just oblivious to the whole thing until Andrew attacked and then the light-bulb went off! 

Oh and as for Ms. Wade's writing.  LOVED it!!! For instance:

"And then he stepped out from the driver's side wearing a black button-up dress shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, and an expensive-looking pair of dark jeans.  Not the Gavin with the old band t-shirt and combat boots, but wherever that Gavin was tonight, I wouldn't complain about his absence."

I so had this mental picture of Zac Efron as Gavin the whole time.  Don't ask me why, but that's just who would play Gavin for me in the movie! And some of the lines in the book, really just spoke to me.  Anyone can relate to them! We all have down in the dump days and for her to come around with a quote like:

"As crazy as the cards are, work with them.  Don't sit around moping about it or trying to get away from it.  Work with what you've got."  

I LOVED this quote! I think we all need to be reminded from time to time.  It's ok to grump for a bit, but then play the cards you were dealt and move on with your life!

So 5/5 stars to this amazing story.  Can't wait to see if I can find the rest of the books in this trilogy!

Happy Reading!